


Herald

by DesuVult123



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, RWBY
Genre: Angst, Comedy, Death, Eldritch, Eldritch Abominations (Cthulhu Mythos), Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/M, Fluff, Mind Manipulation, Romance, Star spawn, bit of smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:01:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26694937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesuVult123/pseuds/DesuVult123
Summary: Jaune thought he was dreaming... when he woke up in that black pool, with a girl with skin as white as death and eyes red as blood above him. He thought it was all a dream until she told him that he was special and that she could not see him. After that, he woke up to be accepted into the mysterious Beacon school for hunters as his new life began and he learned what horror really was.
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Blake Belladonna, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune Arc/Weiss Schnee, Jaune Arc/Yang Xiao Long
Comments: 9
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

_ Drip... drip... drip...  _

The sound of water dripping filled the air like a leaky faucet was turned on and let run.

_ Drip... drip... drip _ . The drops continued to fall landing like small blossoms of blood on the well. The water rippled and threatened to burst like some great submerged thing was coming up from the depths. 

Two eyelids shot open as a mouth groaned. 

"Where am I?"

**Do not worry.** Twin blazing red eyes locked down onto their blue counterparts. The blue eyes focused as they saw what could only be a girl? A girl with skin as white as paper and eyes red like blood looked down at them. The blue eyes blinked as they looked up to them. 

"Where... where am I?" The human asked as the other human? No... even in his odd confused state surrounded by water and his head resting in the lap of some strange girl he knew that she was  _ not _ a human. 

She was  _ horrible and terrifying _ in a beautiful kind of way. She had skin that shone like the light off a full moon. Her eyes seemed to be more reminiscent of boiling blood and her hair, long and black as night, dark as the midnight sky looked down at him. 

"Who are you?"

**Me? I am not something that you can comprehend. But I am no threat to you. For now.** The girl spoke as if she was everywhere at once. When she spoke her voice sounded in all ends of the room. Her tone rippled in the water, boiled up around it, vibrated up through the water, and crawled around his skin. 

He felt like hundreds of burrowing insects were burrowing under his skin as she spoke. His ears rang in pain, he felt twin sharp knives burst into his ears as blood trickled down his nose. 

"Your voice..."

**Does it hurt? I would not be surprised if it did not. My voice is not meant for someone like you.** The girl said her head cocked at an unnatural angle that looked like it would snap her neck like a twig. 

"Who... are you?" He asked the ethereal girl that seemed to glow. Her lips curled up in a gesture that should have read something akin to a smile but the way it curled up was unreadable and when he focused on it he felt his eyes begin to bleed. 

**Who am I? That** **_is_ ** **rather presumptuous of you. To ask questions of the being whose domain you reside in.**

_ Drip! Drip! Drip! _ The sound of dripping increased as a faucet began to buckle as pressure built up like a dam. The dam began to break as the boy winced his eyes started to bleed as the girl cocked her head again, once again the angle should have been impossible. 

The angle was crooked and the way her neck seemed to be bending the opposite direction of the area she was looking made it increasingly obvious she should be in incredible discomfort if not dead. 

"I... I don't know where I am... I don't know who you are..."

**Well, now that makes two of us. I don't know who you are either. And let me tell you I find that to be very...** **_peculiar._ ** The girl that was not normal said as she rains a slim impossibly slender hand over his arm. The boy shivered in fear, he felt like something long wet and  _ slimy _ was wrapped over his arm. 

Her arm brushed against his and made him feel like all warmth had left him. The boy wanted to gag, the feeling was so strong. Wet and slimy like some kind of giant squid was sucking on his arm and dripping on it. He felt the remains of a dark  _ clinging _ liquid flow and slide down his arm as he gulped. 

"You don't know who I am?"

**No. No, I do not. I do not know you.** Once again the  _ drip! Drip! Drip! _ Began again, blood poured from his nose and now eyes. He felt the water vibrate from deep below him as the massive rumbling voice sounded at all angles reverberating in his mind and flesh as he cried out. 

"What are you!?"

**Me? I want to know more about** **_you._ **

"Me!? I"m... I... I don't know who I am..." The boy said as he frantically searched his mind, he looked into his head and found nothing... blank space filled his mind as he did not know who he was. 

"I... I don't know who I am."

**Curious. Very curious.** Once again the dripping the pain the knives in his brain the feeling of water rumbling the feeling that a massive voice was booming from far below and the sheer volume of water between him and the thing speaking was the only thing that kept him from downright exploding from the inside. 

"Where am I!?"

**Where are you? Now that is something that I would like to know as well.** The thing asked as he winced again, blood trickled down now in greater volumes. 

The blood bled out as he felt a great pressure force itself on his head like it was put in a vice and  _ squeezed. _ He winced in agony as the feeling of his body being vibrated to the point that it was just going to  _ pop _ ! Began to overwhelm him and- 

**I can't even** **_see_ ** **you right now. Let alone tell you exactly where you are.** The girl said as he blinked owlishly wiping away the blood from his face as he groaned. 

"You can't see me!? I am looking at you right now. How can you not see me?"

**I can see your** **_flesh_ ** **mortal. I can see what your body is but I can not see what you** **_are._ ** **I want to know exactly** **_what_ ** **you are. I want to know what you are and know what makes you so special that I can not see you for what you truly are.**

"I! I'm just a... I don't know..."

Blood, pain, water cold. the feeling came over him as the girl paused again. She narrowed her eyes again as she let out a sigh.

**Very well then. I will tell you of your flesh life. Your name was or is Jaune Arc. You are the last of your family. You were taken from your home to be made an offering to me.**

"My home? What!? What's going on!? Who tried to kill me?" Jaune? Asked as-

A bump on his arm, Jaune? looked to see what could only be a floating arm that looked like it had been  _ chewed _ float next to him. It floated up to him bobbing gently along the mirky black liquid as Jaune began to scream. 

**They tried to sacrifice you.**

"And you ate them!?"

**They wanted me to eat you if that helps. But don't worry I will know** **_all_ ** **there is to know about you later on. For now? Wake up and see the world as you perceive it to be.** She said as she put two fingers on Jaunes' eyes, he screamed in pain as he felt his eyelids explode! A flash of light was pushed into him as Jaune let out a scream before he gasped! 

\-----

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Jaune screamed as he shot up. He was in his bed, in his shitty apartment, he had just gotten into Beacon of all places and had gotten a bit too drunk. 

"What the fuck? What was that dream?' Jaune asked as he looked around the dim room before groaning back to be neve using the glowing red eyes that appeared behind him as  _ something _ took an interest. 

Jaune fell back into his bed as he groaned, he was soaked in sweat, absolutely drenched in his own perspiration. 

"What did I drink last night?" Jaune moaned before slamming his hand down not wanting the alarm to blaze and make him wish he was deaf.

"Not today old friend," Jaune said as the cool plastic was sated before it could begin the infernal screeching that heralded the morning.

"Herald... why do I know that?" Jaune said as he sat up the dingy apartment that was  _ supposed _ to be a stepping ground for his hunting career now felt more like a prison than anything. 

"Four applications and four rejections. Great. Maybe I should just walk off a cliff?" Jaune mused before he felt a deep sense of  _ dread _ pull his heart. Jaune’s breathing was cut short as the lights in his room began to flicking wildly on and off as he felt like he was being submerged under water! 

**It will not do for my herald to end his life before his usefulness to me has run out.**

"What the hell?" Jaune's head snapped around a voice that had just spoken to him but there was no one there? Jaune looked back the blinking lights had stopped the pain in his head was gone and the room was just a normal hotel room as it was before.

"I... I think that I need a break." Jaune said before he saw it. There on his nightstand was a perfect white envelope with two axes crossed over a wreath of seaweed.

"The hell is this?" Jaune asked before pulling it open.

_ Congratulations Jaune Arc. You have been accepted into Beacon academy on a full scholarship. Please report to us at your nearest convenience.  _

_ "What!? _ Beacon?! They accepted me? They accepted me!" 

Jaune shouted at the top of his lungs as he looked down at the Beacon acceptance letter. Jaune punched the air with both fists as he let out a whoop of joy!

"Yes! Finally! This is the break I had been looking for!" Jaune shouted as he looked down at the paper! Jaune had done it! He was finally going to a hunting school! Jaune felt the tears fall from his face as his life's goal had finally come true!

"I made it! I made it into Beacon! Beacon... wait what the hell is Beacon?" Jaune thought as he looked at the paper, Jaune had heard of the four academies but never Beacon?

"Vacuo, Atlas, Mantle, Haven, where the hell is Beacon?" Jaune asked as he narrowed down his glare. Surely it existed the name seemed to ring some kind of bell but… but there was something nagging about it, something that made him pause and shiver as he felt like he was being watched.

"It's in Vale? The city port? The one that is always in fog?" Jaune paused as he felt a creeping bit of hesitation begin to rise up inside of him. Jaune looked down at the paper and paused again his hands began to tremble as his fingers shook a bit. Jaune felt that same inkling of dread run down his back as he glared down. 

Jaune knew of Vale it was technically a minor nation in a smaller part of land. It was in the middle of Atlas and Mistral and Vale had few conflicting borders. Great patches of wilderness surrounded it and the whole city seemed to be almost missing? As much as Jaune tried to picture the school all he could remember of Vale was that is was constantly shrouded in a thick oppressive omnipresent fog that never seemed to roll back or recede no matter the situation. 

Jaune furrowed his brow rumors and old stories of children going missing and murders filled his head but he shook them out.

"That does not matter what does is that I got in! I am going to be a damn hunter!" Jaune punched the air not knowing when he had applied but he must have done so in his sleep or frenzy of applications that he had gone through that week.

"So if it is in Vale that means that I'll have to pay for a ride. I wonder if I can make it in time for the coronation to start?" Jaune wondered as- 

_ If you need help in travel, accommodations will be provided for you to get to Beacon upon your request. The current semester starts imminently and your presence is not only highly requested but looked forward to. _

"What the hell?" Jaune blinked owlishly as there were suddenly far more words than he remembered in the letter. Jaune blinked as a whole new paragraph grew from nothingness. Jaune stared at the letter that had appeared to grow out of nothing but he shook his head. It didn't matter he was going to be a hunter! Even if it was strange.

"That... that is strange," Jaune said suddenly, having a sinking feeling that he was doing something obscenely dangerous.

"Nevermind. It's nothing. I just have to focus on getting to Beacon! I wonder when I can call them?" Jaune paused as there was a knock on his apartment door.

"Who is it?"

"Mister Jaune Arc?" A grizzled old voice called out as he nodded.

"Yeah? That's me, who are you?"

"Your accommodations sir."

"Accommodations?"

"Yes. For your travel to Beacon."

"You are already here!?"

"I am now please hurry up sir. We  _ detest _ tardiness..." 

\-----

_ Please, watch your step. _

"Damn it. It's freezing." Jaune hissed as he stepped out of the bullhead. There was an immediate gust of wind that chilled him to his core. The wind bit into his flesh stabbing into his exposed skin like some kind of wild animal. The pins and needles of the wind made him whimper as he shivered.

"Enjoy your stay." The voice of the grizzled man that had someone taken Jaune on the bullhead and gotten him to Beacon in a day said as it took off.

"My apartment-"

"Has already been handled! Enjoy your life in Beacon. What's left of it." The man let out a whisper as the ship took off.

"What was that! I'm still here! Damn it." Jaune said, sighing he turned to face his new home for four years. 

Jaune saw the massive Beacon tower that looked over the lands, miles in the sky, and covered in a thick veil of fog. The fog that seemed to permeate the entirety of Beacon hung heavy as Jaune shivered. 

"Well, nothing for it. They said they would deliver my luggage so yeah. Let's see what's there?" Jaune thought before narrowing his eyes.

_ It's going to be a bit hard to get to the school when I can barely see what's in front of my face. _ Jaune thought as he glared at the fog. The marine layer was so thick that Jaune could not see more than a foot before him. 

The fog was thick enough to cut with Crocea Mors and it almost felt restricting like some kind of snake or massive tentacle was wrapped around his neck as he gulped.

"Well, at least I can't say that the place is not intimidating. It looks like a dame evil for form a storybook-"

_ CRACK! _ Jaune jumped as there was a massive crack of stone!

"What the fuck!?" Jaune hissed as rock exploded by him! There was a massive silver flash followed by a burst of cold air so intense and so chilling that he felt the hair on his face turn to ice at its mere touch.

"What the fuck is happening?" Jaune muttered before a voice? A voice no a  _ sound  _ came out from the epicenter of the event. It sounded almost human but it was utterly alien.

It spoke all it once worse perfectly put together to mimic a song, played on organs that were fueled by human suffering. Jaune felt the blood running down his nose and ears as he cried out in pain. Jaune grunted as the pain slammed into him, nails stabbed into his brain and he felt like vomiting before it finally broke off in-

**_"Parlageh feh, tuneth algutharca! Melath you_** **_dolt_** **!"** The sound ended in a very human voice screaming in frustration and anger. Jaune saw a flutter of white as what _looked_ like a person walked away.

"She's always so mad. Ah well, the millennia do that to you I suppose." A soft voice said as a girl appeared out of the fog. 

She had bright dark red hair and pale skin. She was wrapped in a tight black red corset as-

"Are you ok!?" Jaune half asked half-shouted as she paused. She turned to face him, her eyes  _ perfect _ pools of silver that shimmered teasingly at him. Jaune felt drawn into those eyes, those endless pools of silver that beckoned to him. Asking teasing him to jump in. Jaune felt the unmistakable urge to jump into those pools and let himself drown in the tides of the moon and be fully subsumed by them and-

"I! I saw-"

"Am I ok? Why do you ask hu- I mean why do you think I am not ok?" The girl said correcting herself as Jaune coughed.

"I just saw that blast! And I was worried. I saw that other girl walk away and then you came. I was just worried about you is all. I'm Jaune Arc-"

"Ruby. Ruby Rose. That is the name you can call me." Ruby said her eyes flickering with mirth. Silver pools lit up light giant bolts of silver flames as Jaune felt like he was staring into entropy itself before he shook his head.

"Um... ok? Is there anything else that I can call you?"

"Not without your head exploding or your brains pouring out of your ears like week-old cream," Ruby said, smiling sweetly as her head dipped as the much shorter, maybe only five foot five girl began to walk next to Jaune.

"Come with me Jaune of Arc. It will be good to have some temporary companionship before I arrive at the school."

"I? Ok? I'm coming." Jaune hurried next to Ruby the girl giggling in a strange and off-tilt manner that set every hair on Jaune's arms straight. 

_ She's so... different... like looking at the void of space. Her eyes remind me of stars and she feels... so alien... _ Jaune could not shake the feeling he got from Ruby. The bad sense of terror the clawing sense of dreamlike a dog pawing at the back door to get into his mind-

"Wait. Stop." Ruby suddenly said the girl? Going stiff as a board before turning to him, her eyes still shining like the void itself as Jaune stifled a silent scream of terror at the sight. 

"What's wrong?" Ruby turned to face Jaune, her eyes looking him up and down before a wide frown settled on her face. 

"I can't see you," Ruby said, looking Jaune up and down a perplexing frustrated look on her face as she narrowed her eyes. Her silver pools that reminded him of starlight cause him to cough as she pushed her head forward into his chest.

"Hey! What are you talking about? I'm right here in front of you!"

"I know that. That is the problem. I know that you are right here  _ but _ I can only see you before me. I can not see any other you but the one in front of me."

_ Great. I met the weird girl early. _

"Um... Ruby, there is no other version of me. I'm just-"

"Curious... you are very curious. I think I can hold my hunger for the time being Jaune Arc. I have decided to make you my companion for now so I can keep an eye on you." Ruby said as Jaune saw her take a small pack out of her side. Jaune saw her take out a small white object that looked like some kind of cookie and push it into her mouth and he  _ swore  _ on his life he heard something scream as soon as she took a bite out of it.

"What do you mean hold your hunger? You just started eating?" Jaune asked as Ruby  _ munched _ on whatever it was that she was eating. Jaune swore he heard human screams, the sounds of people in agony filled his ears but only faintly like a faint whisper on a midsummer night as a breeze carried the sounds of genocide to his ears.

"Yes. I am holding my hunger and eating  _ this _ instead." Ruby stated taking another bite out of the object as Jaune swore he heard a  _ help me! _ From the thing as he coughed.

"I... but what else would you have eaten besides that?" Ruby's lips curled up itno a small grin as she looked Jaune up and down. He felt another shiver run down his back like he was in the presence of some kind of predator as Ruby grinned. 

"Oh, who knows? Maybe it would have been something that was much more tall and  _ blonde _ that I would use to sake my thirst." Ruby said giggling in that same off-kilter tone that reminded Jaune of the night sky and the breaking of bones. 

"I... I don't know how to respond to that reality."

"Good. You should not respond to that. Now tell me Jaune Arc."

"Just Jaune."

"Ok then. Just Jaune."

"No. Just call me Jaune, not Jaune Arc ok? That's my whole name and I would rather you shorten it ok?"

"Presumptuous to ask a favor of me when we have first met. But you are far from the rudest man I have ever spoken to so I will let that slide Jaune." Ruby said smiling as Jaune shivered.

_ She's weird and maybe a bit crazy. And if she is a huntress I wonder what kind of weapon she uses? _

"You are wondering if I am a threat to you no? If you are rest easy, Jaune, and know that I mean you no harm." Ruby said with an honest smile as he sighed.

"Well, that is good to hear."

"Trust me if I wanted to hurt you I would have done so by now," Ruby said as she flicked out a massive red and white scythe. It looked like a weapon made from pure start light.

"What the hell is that?"

"Crescent Rose. She is my baby and one day she will cast down the last star in the sky. Pray for your sake that you do not live long enough to witness that." 

"I... I have this?" Jaune said, pulling out a sword and shield. Ruby  _ wretched _ .

"Keep that thing away from me!"

"What? Why?"

"it is  **CURSED!"**

\-----

"Ruby!" 

_ Flames. _ That was Jaune's first reaction when he saw her. Flames, not like a fire but that of the  _ sun _ itself stood before him. Jaune felt himself wince as he saw twin raging lilac infernos both burning so bright that he felt his very soul singed just by staring for too long.

"Yang!" Ruby cried as she went to see what Jaune could only assume to be a family friend or distant relative.

_ Those two look nothing alike. _

"How's it going sis! You find any tasty  _ treats _ on the way in like I did?" The buxom blonde asked picking her up as-

"I did! Look! That is Jaune!" 

"Hi? I'm Jaune and you must be-"

"Interested. Very  _ interested, _ no intrigued!" Yang said as Jaune held out a hand. Jaune felt his skin blister a bit as the woman looked down at him she cocked her head before she grinned.

"A handshake?"

"That's what people do when they meet another person."

"Another....  _ oh _ I see... that is why I was not seeing anything. I thought you where one of us but you are just... unique." Yang said licking her lips Jaune once again felt like a mouse before a tiger or a lioness in this case. Yang looked down at him the woman was a good foot and a half taller than his six on frame grinned wickedly.

"I'm new here-"

"I know that. But what I don't know is why I can not  _ see  _ you." 

" I know! He's invisible!"

"I'm not invisible! I'm standing right here you know?" Jaune asked as Yang turned her gaze to him. It took all his mental fortitude not to scream then and there. Her eyes blazed with a cool lilac flame that made Jaune feel like his very soul was being slowly roasted over a fire and seasoned to perfection as she smirked.

"Now you are an interesting one, and you have  _ that _ thing as a weapon? I think I'll keep you at arms reach Jaune Arc. Unless you want to get a closer look at me." Yang said winking at Jaune as he felt his heart racing as whispering voices filled his ears with a senseless dribble and wordless sentences that seemed to ring on forever in their absurdity but at the same time were filled with a potent and overbearing messing of impending doom and urgency as he coughed into his hands-

"Students. As you well know you are all here because the time has come to ascend your mortal forms. I hope you all are ready for this act, for many of you this has been coming before time was even born. And I hope that with enough care and effort the star spawn er I mean Grimm will be culled like wheat to the scythe at harvest tomorrow. Goodnight." A tall lanky man said as a woman that seemed to embody rage and frustration stood by him. The tall beautiful blonde seemed to glow with hatred as she stalked after him her high heels leaving what Jaune could only describe as burning holes in the floor as-

"Well now that's over and done with, why don't you come and sleep with us Jaune? You don't want to get chowed down this early on do you?" Yang asked as Jaune gulped.

\-----

Jaune did not sleep well that night. It was strange the sleeping area was painfully made, the odd slopping angles and strange angle of the flying buttresses made it hard for Jaune to see what was going on. And the strange dark green somewhat near purple in color paint made looking painful. 

Jaune was put in a corner, one of the few ones in the room. The students near a few hundred it seemed all slept in their individual areas and Jaune would have been joining them in sleep as well if it was not for one main issue. 

_ There! There it is again! _ Jaune thought as he saw it. There was something  _ moving _ in the area. Some kind of shadow that seemed to stalk between the sleeping bags. Going to a few of them and vibrating before darting off away from them as Jaune narrowed his eyes. 

The shadow looked oddly organic? It reminded him of some child's poor drawing of an animal. It looked like some kind of apex predator, maybe some kind of cat? There was something out there and Jaune felt his breath catch in his chest as he balled up his fists and-

"What the hell are you?" Jaune said as the shadow paused over one of the sleeping students before it simply melted into the floor. Disappearing from sight as he froze. 

"Where did you go-"

**You are being perceptive.** Jaune let out a silent scream as a voice appeared from the left of him. A face was sticking out of the shadow next to him. Some kind of long and lithe body was clinging to the wall as-

Jaune's scream was silent as a hand of some kind slammed to his mouth. Though after Jaune felt it, it was more like some kind of slimy tentacle and the face that as Jaune looked down to the dark appendage the appearance of over a dozen amber-like eyes that opened up and began starring at him made him scream as-

**Shh. Don't you make too much noise, I just caught you little mouse. And your nightmare is just beginning...**

\-----

Jaune gasped as he shivered after having the worst nightmare of his life Jaune was now freezing his ass off! Jaune did not know how the Beacon locker rooms could even be this cold!

"I can see my own breath." Jaune shivered making a turn as he saw two students before him-

"As I was saying Pyrrha. If we form a pact then our combined followers are more than enough sustenance for the both of us."

_ Sustenance? The hell? _

"I don't know Weiss. I do not have a following as large as yous."

"That is because of your appetite, you are insatiable." The girl that looked like she was made of snow in a dazzling white dress said before-

"You. The one watching us. Why do you smell of my kin?" The girl said her face turning to Jaune. Jaune felt the opposite of Yang her gaze made his soul seem to freeze in place and Jaune swore that he felt ice forming on his skin-

"Your kin? Excuse me?"

"You smell of my twin. Explain to me why you still draw breath?"

"What?! Because I'm alive?"

"Yes, you dolt. I  _ know _ that you are alive. I am asking why and how. As Bleiss does  _ not _ skip meals." The girl said her cold eyes narrowing as-

"Now Weiss! Maybe he was just lucky is all?" The tall woman next to her with hair that looked like a flowing crimson river almost like blood flowing downstream said as-

"Hello? Who are you?" Jaune asked as the spartan like woman paused narrowing her eyes as-

"Where are you?"

"I was going to ask that as well Pyrrha."

"Where am I? Why do people keep asking me that? I am right here!" Jaune shouted as Weiss and Pyrrha both turned to the other as Weiss hummed.

"I see... maybe Bleiss let you live to study? She was always fickle with her followers."

"Jaune was it? You... you are very... lively." Pyrrha said her green eyes lighting up with energy as Jaune shivered as he felt like he was in grave danger as what seemed to be the living embodiment of combat stuffed in an amazonian form licked her lips.

"Well, I think that I will just be going now! See you later!" Jaune said as Pyrrha grinned at him. 

"I think that you will make a  _ fine _ high priest." She hissed as Jaune began to sprint away from the two at top speed. 

\-----

"You will work out the landing strategy on the fly. See to it that the star spawn or Grimm do not feed that well today." Ozpin said as Jaune paused he knew that there had been maybe three hundred students last night but now? Jaune counted maybe a few dozen at most?

"Where is everyone else?" Jaune thought before the ground beneath his feet shifter and lurched. Making Jaune scream as he was suddenly thrown off the cliff, the chilly icy Beacon air parted before him as he was launched into an ocean of fog! 

Jaune screamed out as voices filled his head endless whispers of dread came to him before his body began to burn! Jaune's whole body burned a hot gold color as the fog parted before him like butter facing a hot knife. Jaune landed hard into a tree with bark the color of blood as he fell hard! Jaune landed on the pure white grass of the forest as he gulped staring around the mesmerizing hell scape of fog and mutated earth. The grass was pure white and the blood-red trees with odd green fruit growing out of them painted a surreal and bizarre landscape as the over present fog began to seep back in Jaune felt his legs shake as fear began to worm its way into him. 

"Just where the hell am I?" Jaune asked as he caught sight of those predatory green eyes as Pyrrha approached him smiling as Jaune wanted to get the hell out of there as soon as possible!  
"Hello again!"  
"Hello, partner..." Jaune said as he swore that Pyrrha would be the end of him...


	2. Through the valley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaune makes it past initiation meets new friends? Runs into an eccentric faunus and has a Moonlite stroll with Ruby that yields predictable terrifying results...

"So you said that you were not from Vale?" Jaune asked the strange spartan like girl that stood before him, the breeze in the emerald forest the strange massive black trees towered over them, their blood-red branches and leaves gently swayed in the air as the odd snow-white grass painted a bizarre picture of a kaleidoscopic hellscape as-

"Well that is not inaccurate, you are right in saying I am not from Vale but... I don't think that I can give you a very accurate description of where I am from sorry." Pyrrha said the feeling of power, victory, and triumph that seemed to bleed out of her forcing their way into Jaune's mind making him grunt in pain as he coughed and looked down.

"Well, that is not helpful at all, a bit hard to bond with you if I don't know where you are from you know?" Jaune asked Pyrrha paused those dazzling green eyes that reminded him of blazing emeralds but in a backdrop of a blizzard narrowed.

"Strange it is Jaune Arc. But not stranger than the fact that I can not see you. Where are you Jaune?" Pyrrha asked stalking next to him her green eyes narrowing down onto him as she stalked around him the taller girl gazing down quizzically at Jaune like a cat looked at a mouse that was trying to debate the philosophy of ethics with is as she paused. Pyrrha made to speak but the sound of twigs snapping made her spin on her heel.

"Starspawn! They seek to make us suffer for the misery that was their birth! Let us show them what it means ot truly be ethereal!" Pyrrha hissed as Jaune cocked his head his blad pointed out as-

"Don't you mean Grimm?" Jaune asked as three snaky dark figures walked out of the bushes. Three Beowulf subtypes walked out of the bushes growling and snapping, braying out towards them. Long snaky arms with spindly like claws struck out of their paws like daggers or scythes. 

Hanging just loose enough to prived superb flexibility but tight enough to still easily eviscerate any that stood before them.

"Grimm is a hu- Grimm is a common name for these monsters. Though I must admit calling them Grimm is apt for it matches what we are about to do to them." Pyrrha said drawing a blazing orange spear as Jaune sighed. 

"Well, that is macabre. Don't you think?" He asked before the monsters howled! Jaune was first to be struck by the creatures attacking him with lightning speed, his blade barely shot up to intercept the monster. The sword flashed that same blazing phosphorus white as it struck the monster dead in the chest! 

The Grimm let out a pained howl of agony contorting in pain as Jaune's blade struck it dead in the chest! The monster growled before it burst!

"Fuck!" Jaune hissed as the monster blew apart, the chunks of dark rapidly disappearing flesh splattered onto him as-

"Now  _ that _ is curious," Pyrrha said looking Jaune up and down. She looked cautiously at them the rapidly disintegrating Grimm corpses before her hissed and fizzled at her boots as Jaune gulped. 

"I... I'm not gonna even say what I am thinking-"

"It's ok I know what you are thinking if it helps," Pyrrha said with a smile as Jaune did not even think of what that meant as he nodded once.

"Ok... let's get out of here before more of them come ok? That sound good?" Jaune asked keeping his weapons out as Pyrrha nodded falling into lockstep behind him as she followed her partner through the woods.

\-----

Jaune felt the air pressure changed before he heard it.

BANG! CRACK! Jaune winced in pain as the sounds of breaking treebark filled the air before-

Jaune could not comprehend the sound that came next. It was something both organic and raw, passionate, and wild, it was rough, crazed, and joyful. The only words that Jaune could even come close to describing it as-

_ Explosions. Human laughter. _ Jaune thought the only words that could possibly describe what he was hearing right then and there. Jaune heard the amazing cacophony of sounds that resembled a bombing run by the heaviest bombers the world had to offer mixed with the laughter of the crow of a comedian filled the air as-

"TIMBER!" A voice shouted as a small girl appeared out of the woods the body of a limp shattered Ursa flew out of the forest crashing into a tree as a human girl slide down onto the grass before him. 

Teal eyes locked onto Jaune bright and wild like the fist embers of the sun locked onto him as-

"You! You are all shiny! I like you!" The girl said though shorter than Jaune there was an unmistakable power that seeped from the girl as she grinned a wild wolfish smirk at Jaune a massive glittering hammer held effortlessly in her palms as-

"Nora. How good it is to see you again." Pyrrha said bluntly her emerald eyes narrowing as-

"Oh! Pyr! You are here again! I thought I would not see you untill the cracked moon bled and the seas turned to blood! I missed you! Want to end the world?" Nora asked as she licked her lips. 

Jaune felt a wave of panic wash over him, this girl was something else entirely, unlike any of the other bizarre mysterious women Jaune had met in Beacon Nora was the polar opposite. She was power made manifest might personified in a small perky feminine form.

Her every word was like a thunderclap from Oum himself, her every movement spoke of barley restrained momentum a crawling chaos that was desperate to break out of its human skin and spill forth into the world and split it asunder! 

"No Nora. I do not want to do that and please do not say that in front of the mort- in front of Jaune." Pyrrha coughed as Nora blinked turning to face him again as she gasped.

"Oh, you! I couldn't see you so I forgot that you were there! Hey Jaune! My name is Nora! Nora Valkyrie! How come I can't tell where you are?" Nora asked her teal eyes looking him up and down. Her wide light blue orbs shot up and down looking not at one part of Jaune but seemingly all of him at once. 

Jaune could not even begin to describe the strange wild pattern that Nora's eyes took as they took their time shooting over every inch of Jaune and even making Jaune feel like she was looking at his back despite being in front of him the entire time-

" Nora. Please do not do that again." A frustrated but calm voice said as Jaune turned a girl? No a guy? Jaune stared hard trying to see the gender of the androgynous figure before him. Long black hair bright magenta eyes and a body that was somehow equal parts curvy and flat.

Masculine and feminine, a shape that seemed to scream feminity but also having every aspect of a man and even aspects that made Jaune think of a mixture of the two genders or maybe none at all stood before them-

"Ren. Good to see you."

"Renny! I met Pyrrha and a new friend!" Nora said as Ren paused. 

"Hello, Pyrrha. It is good to see you before the end. But where is this friend that you speak Nora? You do know that mortals are more food than friend correct?" Ren asked as-

"I'm right here?" Jaune asked as the person paused going still-

"Who said that?" He? Or she asked as Jaune put a hand on their shoulder.

"Me-"

"KYA!" The person let out an androgynous scream that was equal parts masculine and feminine as the  _ thing _ let out a gasp. 

"Where did you come from?!" Ren asked as he or she looked at Jaune with a wild frantic look as-

"Hah! You got suprised! You got surprised!" Nora sang in a sing-song voice as Ren gasped.

"You! Just what are you?!" She asked Jaune had decided to call her a she just to make things easier as he winced.

"Well, I have been here for the entire time?" Before Jaune could answer he felt metal pressed on his neck, Ren had pushed twin-bladed pistol-like weapons that he swore on his mother's life were breathing to his jugular. Jaune  _ felt _ the weapons move their sides gently lifting up and down as they were literally breathing somehow as Jaune gulped.

"I! I'm just a guy! Trying to be a hunter-"

"If you were just a mortal I would have felt you! I should shred your essence and consume you-"

"You will do  _ no _ such thing," Pyrrha spoke up stepping to Jaune's side as she smiled sweetly to Rin who backed up in an instant her odd breathing weapons still raised-

"Put your weapons down now." 

"I... ok fine." She hissed, backing off as she put down her weapons.

"Ok! Ok! Now that we are all together how about we just put aside our differences and make good on the way back to Beacon ok?" Jaune asked hoping for unity between them as-

"Oh! A mortal that can speak his mind! I like the kind of guy to take charge Jaune! I like you! I'm gonna eat you up! Once I find you that is!" Nora said as Jaune felt a cold shiver go down his spine as the teal eyes that seemed to bulge with the force of a thousand cataclysmic battles being waged behind them surging and making them bulge out as they burned like a fresh supernova piercing Jaune's soul as he felt like he was going to be immolated on the spot!

"I... I'll ignore that. Let's just get out of these woods ok?" 

\-----

"Led by! Jaune Arc!" Jaune felt fear go down his spine as Ozpin named him the leader of his team looking around Jaune and his team of JNPr were mostly alone... besides them only Ruby, Yang, Weiss, and Blake? Was it stood apart from them as Jaune felt a shiver go down his spine. 

_ I swore that there were hundreds of people her before. Last night it was packed and now it is like they all just vanished? _ Jaune felt another shiver go down his spine as Pyrrha smiled. 

"I am glad that you are our leader Jaune."

"If you call a mortal a leader that is."

"Oh ignore Rin! She is just a spoilsport! I can't wait to find out wher you are so I can know what you taste like!" Nora said licking her lips as Jaune gulped and nodded.

"Yeah... me too..." 

\-----

That night Jaune did not get much sleep-

_ Drip... drip... _ Jaune felt the same pressure of water on him as he felt the droplets land on his face. 

"What the hell where am I-"

** "You are getting awfully full of yourself Jaune." ** That same deep throbbing voice said as Jaune sat up to see her again. Those eyes that were dark as blood and bright as crimson, that skin pale as snow and-

"You look like Weiss-" Jaune barley dodged the  _ thing _ that struck out to hit his face, Jaune saw something truly massive and covered in what looked like massive discs the size of a bull head slither back as he gulped.

_ Was that a tentacle?! _

** "You will do well to never compare me to my kin again Jaune. Just because I have taken an interest in you does not mean that I will keep you alive if you keep on disobeying me." **

"How am I disobeying you!? Who are you!? What is this place!?"

** "Oh, Jaune don't you worry about that. All will be revealed soon but for now? Consider this night as a gift." **

"A gift?"

** "Yes. I have shielded you from the horrors of the room, for the time being, do not expect your next night asleep to be anywhere near as peaceful..." ** The girl said as Jaune felt the pressure behind his eyes begin to bulge as he grunted.

"Wait tell me more! Tell me about what's happening and-"

** "I have said enough. Now awaken. And if you see my kin again tell her that I said her hairstyle is not wort the cosmic dust that she used to fashion in all those eons ago. Oh. And also tell her that she is flat. She will know what you mean and be sure to tell it right in front of her ok?" **

\------

"AH!" Jaune gasped as he turned the corner waking up to an empty team room was never a good start to his day, so when he rounded the corner trying to find his friends the last thing he expected was to run into someone!

Jaune gasped as he ran face-first into something soft a sharp yelp of ah! Filled his ears as he was pushed back by an older student.

"Oh! Sorry!" Jaune said as a girl dressed in the strangest outfit he had ever seen was before him.

"Oh no! That is my fault!" She said as Jaune took her in, she was tall six feet easily almost eight if you counted her long brown rabbit ears. On the front of her was a necklace with four humanoid dolls that were all chained together with a bony string. Under them was a series of long flowing robes filled with signs, symbols, and words written in more languages that Jaune could even consider. At her side was a wickedly sharp short knife that looked perfect for gutting someone and in her free hand was what could only be a perfectly polished human skull. 

"What the hell?"

"Sorry! I'm Velvet! Velvet Scarlatina!" The faunus said her soft brown eyes twitching as she looked side to side as if ready to run at the first sign of trouble. 

"J-Jaune. Jaune Arc... why do you have dolls on your chest?" Jaune asked not sure if he should be asking but they where just so weird! They all had mean expressions on their faces and looked so humaniod that-

"Oh them! That's just Cardinal! They are my protectors! You see that one is Cardin, then Sky, Dove and Russel! All of them!"

"And they are supposed to be?" Jaune asked not sure if she was off her rocker or not as-

"They are just old friends." Vlevet said quickly before she gave Jaune a once over.

"You have the mark of the devourer upon your soul, who did you piss off to get  _ her _ of all things intrested in you?" Velvet asked frowning as she picked up her skull and began to whisper to it.

"Do you see that Yatsu? He has the mark of the beast upon him!"

"I... I don't know what the hell is going on but I am going to go find my team now-"

"Good luck Jaune! I hope you find them before something finds you!" Velvet said as she moved her hips just enough for Jaune to catch the word Fox written on her dagger as he frowned.

"Is... is that-"

"A real human skull? Yes! It sure is! It used to belong to my best friend Yatsuhashi!"

"And... and you just carry it around wtih you?" Jaune asked shocked and appaled as Velvet nodded.

"Of course! He helps protect me when I am in danger!"

"I thought that Cardinal did that instead?"

"Oh... they do more of breaking things that want to kill me than anything Yatsu helps me keep not just myself but my friends alive as well! Isn't that right Yatsu?" The bast shit cray faunus asked the glistening human skull that said nothing in respone but-

Jaune winced as he heard it, shrouded voices whispers called into his ears as the skull seemed to be staring at him-

"Don't worry I won't get to close to him for now. He seems a good person but if  _ she _ wants something it is suicide to get between her and her goal."

"Who is this she?! Who is her?! What are you talking about?" Jaune finally snapped as Velvet blinked owlishly.

"You poor thing here. Take this. When the moon is low and the dark is high the spirit will look down from the sky."

"Say what?" Jaune asked as she handed him a blank piece of paper as she smiled.

"Take a walk in the moonlight. You'll see." She said as Jaune gulped.

\------

"So then I was like! BAM!" Ruby said as Jaune once again heard the  _ screams _ that seemed to come from her cookies as the small girl bit into them. Jaune was now certain Ruby was not an ordinary girl maybe she had a strange semblance that had to do with her eyes. Jaune had long since stopped starring into those wide silver pits that threatened to overwhelm and consume him the moment that he looked into them for too long. 

Ruby had accompanied him or well after a full day of being lost in the Beacon hallways that seemed to be leading to constant deadends and being filled with ankle-level fog that never dissipated Jaune was just tried. 

"Look. Ruby, I am just going on this walk because Velvet-"

"The  _ Occultist _ ?"

"The what?"

"Rabbit fauns? Carries the totems of her sacrificed friends to ward off her enemies on her? The fetishes she keeps on her body?"

"Sacrifice what now?"

"The totems of the friends she sacrificed for power. That faunus?"

"Can you be more clear on that because that is horrifying and-" Jaune paused as Ruby pulled on his jeans pointing to the moon as-

"Look! Your owner has come to say hello." Ruby said as Jaune froze turning up and-

"What owner-" Jaune paused as the moon  _ shifted _ inky black spots appeared as blood-red rivers began to flow down like a freshly split wound, in reality, Jaune gagged as he saw massive amounts of black and red shift and blend onto the surface of the moon before a great chasm appeared! Jaune felt the blood leave his body as the colors merged into a massive entity a single giant crimson eye that was shockingly feminine looked down upon Jaune and-

"You see?  ** B- ** " The next syllabus that Ruby said made Jaune's ear's bleed he felt  _ lust, greed, envy, jealousy _ more powerful than anything ever his vision swam as blood leaked form his eyes and nose before he took one last look to the moon as it  _ winked _ at him and he passed out...


End file.
